Since recently someone (else) asked why medieval Europe is the standard fantasy setting, I was wondering: Are there (or do you know, anyways) fantasy books based on, say ancient Rome. It’s a reasonably well-known era, after all. Or what about ancient China, or India? I don’t really know much about them, but there’s probably lots of possibilities there, too. Or maybe even ancient Egypt?

Ancient Rome – there’s Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series, Thomas Harlan’s Oath of Empire series, and many more.

Ancient China/India – Years of Salt and Rice is an interesting alternate history focusing on India and China with some fantasy elements. Grace of Kings by Ken Liu is a great fantasy take on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Here are some suggestions about fantasy novels set in India, although I should mention that there’s apparently a very lively fantasy scene in India if you can read Hindi or Urdu, etc. 

Ancient Egypt – try some of these?